The use of steamers for cooking food is widely known. Such devices are commonly used to steam cook a variety of foods, such as vegetables, where the use of a direct heat source is undesirable. Accordingly, the need and desirability for such devices is without question, and need not be discussed herein.
Numerous designs have been utilized over the years for cooking steamers. For instance, most conventional steamers utilize a relatively shallow stainless steel insert which may be placed within a deep pot, in which boiling water is placed. The steam from the boiling water rises through holes in the bottom of the stainless steel insert, thereby steam-cooking food placed therein. Typically, steamers are configured to match within a pot having a particular size so that the pot's lid can be used to seal or cover the steamer. Other steamers also provide tapers or tiered steps on their underside so that they fit into many sizes of saucepans.
Although these designs are effective, each is limited in providing a steamer that allows water to cascade and fall back into the cooking pot or pan above which the steamer is placed. This is desirable in many conventional steam cooking applications. However, these designs do not provide conventional steam cooking capabilities while also providing a device that is operable to permit heat to escape while collecting and preventing moisture from returning to a cooking pot or pan. It will be appreciated that such a feature is desirable in a wide variety of cooking scenarios.
Thus, an unresolved need exists in the industry for a steamer device that collects and returns, or collects and prevents from returning, moisture generated by a cooking pot or pan.